History teachers are known for occasionally making cliche statements like “history repeats itself” or “history is full of patterns.” Today’s featured document from the National Archives offers some proof that those cliches are true at times. Today’s document from the National Archives is a copy of the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act. In addition to the document, the National Archives posted a typed transcript of the act and a lesson plan for teaching with the document.

Applications for Education
As Arizona’s laws regarding immigration stay in the news, the document and lesson plan about the Chinese Exclusion Act could be present a good way to compare past and present in US politics.